Catalina Magnet High School Students 'Finding Voice' During Art Exhibit at University of Arizona's Union Gallery

TUCSON - October 7, 2009 - An on-campus exhibition opening this week at the University of Arizona's Union Gallery features the artistic work of immigrant high school students from Catalina Magnet High School.

The students are participating in the "Finding Voice" program where they research, photograph, write and speak out about critical social issues in their lives and communities. The "Finding Voice" exhibit runs Oct. 16 through Nov. 13.

Finding Voice is an innovative literacy and visual arts program dedicated to helping refugee and immigrant youth at Catalina Magnet High School develop their literacy and second language skills. Finding Voice educators Julie Kasper and Josh Schachter founded the program during the spring of 2007 in collaboration with the Tucson chapter of the International Rescue Committee.

Kasper, Schachter and participating students will open the exhibit with an artist talk during the opening reception on Friday, Oct. 16. The event will be held 5 to 7 p.m. with the artist talk beginning at 6 p.m.

The Union Gallery, located on the third floor of the Student Union Memorial Center, also will host a panel of Tucson artists, educators, and community members discussing community-based art and the challenges of representation on Nov. 5 from 5 to 7 p.m.

Both events are free and open to the public. The gallery's hours are noon to 6 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday; noon to 8 p.m. on Wednesdays.

Kasper and Schachter have worked with students from dozens of countries, including Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burundi, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Ghana, Honduras, India, Nepal, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Russia, Somalia, Yemen and Vietnam.

The educators worked to help the students examine through words and photographs where they came from, where they live now and what future they want to create for themselves and their communities. Issues related to depression, religion, family dynamics, peer pressure, teen pregnancy, substance abuse, immigration and war have all been explored by the students through their photography and writing.

The experience was intended also to help the students develop a better understanding of their Tucson neighborhoods and of culture in the United States while building strong connections to their own native cultures and families.